Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s dramatic public shift toward masculinity, populist rhetoric, and apparent support for former President Donald Trump has sparked internal backlash at the tech giant, with some staff reportedly “horrified” and “grieving,” according to a new Financial Times report.
Zuckerberg, who has undergone a public transformation triggered an uproar with comments made during a January 2025 appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. The billionaire executive lamented that “Corporate America has been culturally neutered” and called for a return of “masculine energy” in the workplace.
“There’s this bias where people think aggression or intensity is inherently bad,” Zuckerberg told Rogan. “But it’s not. I actually think it’s useful. You want to be able to channel that energy.”
According to the Financial Times, Zuckerberg’s remarks stunned many Meta employees, some of whom confronted leadership during a company meeting in Menlo Park just days later. One insider described Zuckerberg’s tone as dismissive.
“He basically said: ‘If you don’t like it, tough sh*t,’” said one source.
This public embrace of masculinity and anti-woke commentary has marked a sharp departure from Zuckerberg’s once-neutral persona, drawing criticism from some staff and industry observers who say it suggests Meta is inching closer to right-wing political alignment — both in tone and policy.
Zuckerberg’s growing rapport with conservative and populist circles — now earning him the nickname “MAGA Mark” in some corners — has become a defining feature of his post-2024 persona. His public praise for Trump, frequent appearances on male-dominated podcasts, and the scaling back of content moderation teams have only added fuel to speculation that Meta is realigning politically.
Though he once faced intense scrutiny for favoring liberals and stifling conservatives as evidenced by the Hunter Biden laptop suppression and censorship of COVID-19 narratives that contradicted the Biden administration, Zuckerberg’s more recent moves — including the rollback of “misinformation” policies and changes to news feed algorithms — have been well received by some on the right.
The backlash to Zuckerberg’s cultural shift comes amid Meta’s massive push into artificial intelligence. Last week, the company announced a $14.3 billion acquisition of Scale AI, giving Meta a 49% non-voting stake and access to its infrastructure and engineering talent, including CEO Alexandr Wang, who will now head Meta’s “superintelligence” unit.
The move further strains relationships between Meta and competitors like OpenAI and Google, both of which have cut ties with Scale over conflict-of-interest concerns. Meta is planning to spend an estimated $65 billion on AI development by the end of 2025.
While Meta’s AI ambitions are energizing investors, the ideological drift under Zuckerberg’s leadership is unsettling to many inside the company. According to the FT report, some employees described themselves as “mourning” what they believe the company once stood for — especially its commitment to inclusion, moderation, and political liberalism.
Others, however, argue that Zuckerberg is simply being more authentic.
“When he was 19 years old, I think he had an idea in his head of what a CEO was supposed to be like and he was trying to be that, especially in public,” said Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth. “The public is seeing him more how we have, internally, since the beginning.”
Seijah, is this an old story or did you mistakenly call President Trump FORMER President Donald Trump. I guess he is President Trump and former President Trump. By the way I like your articles.